Pitchfork's Top 50 Albums of 2009

Let the debate begin... I personally can't take issue with what's actually on the list (except the somewhat shocking absence of Volcano Choir's Unmap), but the rankings are a bit suspect - and that's putting it nicely. Phoenix's Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix, The Very Best's Warm Heart of Africa, and Real Estate's self-titled album should have all probably been higher; Memory Tapes Seek Magic, Atlas Sound's Logos, and especially Passion Pit's Manners were far too low (#34?!?!). But how about Grizzly Bear's Veckatimest, which was ranked at #6? Only months ago, it was rated as the 42nd best album of the decade by Pitchfork, well ahead of some classics like The Rapture's Echoes (#57), Sufjan Steven's Michigan (#70), The Microphone's The Glow Pt. 2 (#73), The Wren's The Meadowlands (#88), Jay-Z's The Black Album, (#90), Spoon's Girls Can Tell (#92), The National's Boxer (#110), and The Notwist's Neon Golden (#131). It happens to be ranked ahead of the Dirty Projector's Bitte Orca (#56 on the decade list) as well, which is somehow ranked 4 spots ahead of it at #2 on the 2009 list. I know Pitchfork has some kind of complex voting system amongst its entire staff, and that probably accounts for anomalies like this from time to time, but that still just seems a bit ridiculous to me. Also, the top 5 contains 3 albums that are, in my opinion, probably the 3 most overhyped albums of the year: The Flaming Lips Embryonic (#4), the aforementioned Bitte Orca, and Animal Collective's Merriweather Post Pavillion (#1). I actually think Merriweather is a great record, and will be ranking it very highly myself, but I'm definitely not putting it on the same pedestal so many others have this year.

We'll be posting our "Best of 2009" lists next Monday Tuesday, so be sure to check back soon...